You may have heard of the Affordable Care Act — sometimes called Obamacare — a 2010 federal law intended to increase the value spent on health care, create a culture supporting healthy living and wellness and expand access to care. The law accomplishes this through financial assistance and tax credits for individuals and businesses to purchase insurance through the marketplace. Many of the law’s changes took effect in January 2014.
Colorado passed its own set of health care reform laws that established a state-based marketplace called Connect for Health Colorado. Other laws passed in Colorado expanded Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) coverage to more low income Coloradans and aligned state health insurance regulations with new federal laws.